Policy
noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 A principle of behaviour, conduct which an entity (government, organization, etc.) applies or seeks to follow, especially as formally expressed by an authoritative body. countable, uncountable
"The Communist Party has a policy of returning power to the workers."
- 2 A contract of insurance.
- 3 a plan of action adopted by an individual or social group wordnet
- 4 A document describing such a policy. countable, uncountable
"Please print extra copies of this policy and post them where it will be easy for everyone to see."
- 5 A document containing or certifying this contract.
"Your insurance policy covers fire and theft only."
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 written contract or certificate of insurance wordnet
- 7 Wise, advantageous, or politic conduct; prudence, formerly also with connotations of craftiness. countable, uncountable
"[H]e [Richard I of England] was diſcovered in an inne in Auſtria, becauſe he diſguiſed his perſon not his expenſes; ſo that the very policie of an hoſteſſe, finding his purſe ſo farre above his clothes, did detect him: […]"
- 8 An illegal daily lottery in late nineteenth and early twentieth century USA on numbers drawn from a lottery wheel (no plural) obsolete
- 9 a line of argument rationalizing the course of action of a government wordnet
- 10 Specifically, political shrewdness or (formerly) cunning; statecraft. archaic, countable, uncountable
"I, 'policie? that's their profession, And not simplicity, as they suggest."
- 11 A number pool lottery
- 12 The grounds of a large country house. Scotland, countable, in-plural, uncountable
"1775, Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland section on Aberbrothick Now and then about a gentleman’s house stands a small plantation, which in Scotch is called a policy, but of these there are few, and those few all very young."
- 13 The art of governance; political science. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Liſt his diſcourse of Warre; and you ſhall heare / A fearefull Battaile rendred you in Muſique. / Turne him to any Cauſe of Pollicy, / The Gordian Knot of it he will vnlooſe, / Familiar as his Garter: […]"
- 14 A state; a polity. countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 15 A set political system; civil administration. countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 16 A trick; a stratagem. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Tis pollicie and ſtratageme muſt doo / That you affect, and ſo muſt you reſolue, / That vvhat you cannot as you vvould atchiue, / You muſt perforce accompliſh as you may: […]"
- 17 Motive; object; inducement. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"I pray you (said he) honest men, what such right have you in me, as not to suffer me to doe with my self what I list? and what pollicie have you to bestow a benefite where it is counted an injury?"
- 1 To regulate by laws; to reduce to order. transitive
"Policying of cities."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"At this stage there is still not a clear energy policy for bringing decentralised power to rural areas."
Etymology
From Middle English policie, from Old French policie, pollicie and police, from Late Latin politia (“citizenship; government”), classical Latin polītīa (in Cicero), from Ancient Greek πολιτεία (politeía, “citizenship; polis, (city) state; government”), from πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”). Doublet of police, polis (“police”), and polity.
From Middle French police, from Italian polizza, from Medieval Latin apodissa (“receipt for money”), from Ancient Greek ἀπόδειξις (apódeixis, “proof, declaration”). Doublet of apodixis.